When engineers proposed a plan for pricing online ads based on the number of click-throughs, not on the number of times the ad was shown, Mr. Page was unswayed until the team convinced him that the system would improve the user experience by making the ads they saw more relevant to their interests.

A person close to Carrefour said the company is unswayed in its quest, regardless of whether the retail law goes into effect or not, though this person added that having a majority stake would be important "symbolically."

Protesters continued to demand that the United States take a more vocal role in supporting their movement, saying they are unswayed by the Obama administration's calls for an orderly transition of power.

Renzi, a rising star of the Italian centre-left said he was unswayed and would demand a face-to-face meeting with culture minister, Sandro Bondi, a published poet who has dedicated some of his work to Silvio Berlusconi.